The crew who went to the homeless shelter

We were not allowed to film at the homeless shelter, but the crew who went gathered at Donna Khan's house for worship beforehand. Here is the happy group:

Reflections from Donna & Dan: The blessings went both ways at Loudoun Emergency Homeless Shelter.

We were all touched by the residents at the Loudoun Emergency Homeless Shelter. Meeting them, and learning more about their circumstances, truly emphasized "There but for the grace of God go I." The two families that particularly reminded us of how blessed we are were a family from Iran, and a single father with a 6-year-old daughter.

The family from Iran included mother, father, two daughters, a son and daughter in law. They spent 16 months as refugees in Turkey before coming as refugees to America. They are B'Hai, and experienced significant religious persecution in Iran. No one in the family speaks English except for the youngest daughter, who is learning English in high school and is the 'translator' for the group. They can't get driver's licenses because of the language barrier so they are unable to get a car or to secure jobs. The older daughter was a teacher in Iran. While communicating was a challenge, it was still obvious that they had a strong faith.

The single father, Mike, lives at the shelter with his daughter. He lost his job a few weeks before Christmas. During that same time, he was in court with his ex-wife over custody for his daughter. On Christmas Eve, Mike suffered a stroke. He was unable to pay his rent and lost his home. He has now finally been released to work part time but is not finding it easy to find a job. His attitude is amazing. Through all of this, he knows that God is looking out for him and he is blessed.

These residents were so gracious and appreciative. We all left with our eyes wide open and our hearts full with a desire to be able to help them in some way.


--Donna Khan & Dan Ross